Bloody flowers
by bluerk9
Summary: It has been over a year since Clara has faked her death. She roams the city of Chicago thinking about how long she will be able to go on with this. She continues to leave flowers for Lena and wonders how she will approach Aiden after so long. The story tells how Clara fakes her death and what she has been doing.
1. Intro

It was a rainy night in Chicago. I walk through the streets, hiding underneath a dark hoodie as I head towards the cemetery with flowers. Many awful memories take place there. Including my "Death." I never meant to fake it, but I had to start over. I had some of my tattoos removed including the one on my chest and my neck. For the rest of them, I hid underneath my clothes. I still had my piercings, but they were barely visible due to my hoodie. I wore black gloves with black jeans and long boots so basically everything was covered. I reach the cemetery and I look around at all the tombstones, but none of them meant as much to me as Lena's. I walk over to her grave feeling regret. She died at such a young age all because of me. I gave the information to find them and now a little girl ends up dead. I lay the flowers on top of her tombstone and I start to leave. Ever since my "Death" occurred, I have been having nightmares for months. Nothing seems to stop them so sometimes I go out at night wandering the streets of Chicago, trying to forget about him, but I know he is still in this city. The man you know as the vigilante is who I am talking about, but I can't think about him. Not now. I need to get to a place where I can keep my mind off of him and that place was the bar. I'm not going to drink, but I just think of it as a place where I can think about other things. I leave the cemetery and head towards the bar in Pawnee. It was the closest one I could think of. When I got there, I opened the doors and see about six men sitting at the bar. I was expecting it to be empty at this hour, but I guess not. I walk in and they stare at me, but I could care less. I sit at an empty table across the bar and face away from them. I hear chatter coming from the men, but I ignore them. I rest my hands on the table and start to think about was has been going on recently. The corporation Virus has been threatening the city. I've been trying to take them down, but so far it hasn't been great. They have been sending men to take me down, but I won't be defeated so easily. Their leader's name is Kent Simmons. He is the one who holds it together. He is my target and I can't let anyone get in the way. I hear someone walking towards me. I believe it was one of the guys who were sitting at the bar. I don't turn around though. I try to keep calm.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" he started, Comin into our bar and actin like you're all that."

He sounded British. I don't say anything to him.

"What, got nothin to say?"

I hear laughter in the background. He mumbles something as he reaches for my hoodie. Right then and there I stopped him by grabbing a firm hold to his wrist and before he could even react, I flipped him over on the table, causing it to collapse. I turn to the other men who were still at the bar. They all stood up.

"Get her boys," he commanded.

One of them come at me. He tries to swing at me, but I dodge it and kick him in his sides, causing him to slam into the pool table. I reach for the pool stick that was sitting on the pool table and jabbed the next guy in the stomach. He held his stomach in pain as I knocked him across his face with the end of the stick and he was out cold. The man that I slammed into the pool table gets back up and tried to hit me again, but I managed to dodge just in time and use one of my traps which was an electric ring and shocked him, causing him to collapse. Two men grab my arms and held me back against the wall as the third one grabbed his shotgun. He aimed the gun towards me, but I stabbed the guy who was holding my left arm and before the man could shoot, I used the other guy as cover and the man shot him instead. I pushed the dead one aside as the man tries to reload his gun. I quickly reach for one of the beer bottles that was sitting at the bar table and slam it across his face. The glass shattered and the remains of the bottle was sharp. I use it to stab the man which caused him to cough out blood. He falls to the ground. I look down and see blood on my hands. I slowly look back up and see the bartender staring at me. Surprisingly, he didn't look terrified. Instead he looked calm as if these kinds of fights have happened before. He then goes back to cleaning one of glasses. I turn away from him and walk out of the bar. I don't know what that bartender was going to do, but I honestly don't really care. He can tell the police about what happened, but he doesn't know who I am and he looked pretty calm. I know I am going to get myself into trouble for this, but I've been into enough fights. Now I'm going to go back and tell how it all began. I remember...


	2. Alive

**Authors note: Hey guys I hope you enjoyed the little intro I wrote. There will be a lot of those types of scenes in this story and the romance will take place later. I am also in for this story all the way so stay patient because I am doing two stories at once which is mentioned in my bio. Alright lets get on with the story :P**

* * *

(One year earlier)

I wake up on the cold, hard ground, feeling weak. My breathing was shallow and my sight was a bit blurry. Was I actually alive? I remember the first gunshot hitting my shoulder and I also remember Aiden shouting my name before it all happened. When the last gunshot was fired, I felt like everything around me just stopped and it all went black. I turn back to reality as I realize it is now dark outside. How long have I actually been here? I tried to get up, but failed due to the pain in my left shoulder blade. I held on to the wound as I tried to get up again. This time, I managed to get to my feet. I started limping as I was starting to lose blood. I tried to hold on to both of my wounds by putting pressure on them to stop the bleeding, but it didn't seem to work.

I need to stay out of sight . No doubt if anyone sees me, they will call an ambulance and I definitely don't want to go to the hospital because then I will be shown on the news. I'm going to try and fake my death, but I will also need some help. I'm going to visit an old friend of mine named Darius. He is trustworthy in these types of situations and I have probably known him since high school. He owns a mansion not far from here so if I make it, I can settle there for a few weeks. I start to walk towards my car, trying to hide from other people until I reach it. I get inside and I start it. My vision is a bit better now so at least I can drive. My arms were shaky when I reached for the wheel. I start to drive out of the cemetery and head towards the mansion. My sight grew a bit blurry in the process of driving, but I managed to make it to the gates.

I get out of the car and wait for a few seconds. He has cameras so he has to know I'm here. I wait until the gates open and Darius comes running outside. I was about ready to collapse by just standing there. I start to fall until he catches me.

"What the hell happened to you?"

I tried to speak, but I was interrupted by pain. He takes me inside and sits me down on a couch. He then leaves for a second before coming back with a first aid kit. He opens it up and removes my jacket. He takes out a pair of tweezers and applies it to my right shoulder and starts to remove the bullet. I squint in pain as he pulls it out. He sets the tweezers down and starts stitching both of my wounds.

"So talk to me, what happened?"

I knew I had a lot to explain to him so I told him everything and by the time he was done stitching.

"So you need help faking your death?"

"Yes, but you can't let anyone find out about this."

He nods and walks out of the room to put the first aid kit away. Just then, I see someone approach me. I'm guessing its his butler because he was well dressed.

"Is there anything I can get you?"

"No, I'm fine."

Darius comes back and the butler starts to leave, but as he does, he whispers something to Darius. His eyes widen in surprise and whispers something back. The butler nods and leaves. I was a little curious to know what they were talking about, but from what just happened now, I don't think I should care. Darius sits back down and studies me.

"You've changed since I last saw you. You still hacking?"

I smiled a little bit.

"Yes, I am."

I remember back in high school, whenever he was failing in classes, I would hack into his grades and change them to straight A's. I would do that in restitution for him saving me from getting jumped once. He used some sort of martial arts to take down the guys and he would consider himself "The Black Bruce Lee." We chatted for a little bit about old times until asked him if I could stay over at his place for a while. He accepted the offer and led me to one of the rooms. He opens the door and I was shocked when I saw the room. It looked like a bedroom that would take place in a castle or something like that.

"This will be your room so call me if you need anything," he said as he shuts the door.

I look around the room for a moment, taking everything in. I sit on the bed and remove my shirt, leaving on my bra. I lay the bloody shirt on a nearby table, lay underneath the covers, and turn off the light.

* * *

**So what do you guys think? Leave some reviews to let me know how I am doing. Ok bye :P**


	3. Nightmare

**Next chapter guys. Enjoy and also Aiden is more involved in this story than you think so just keep reading. It gets better :)**

* * *

I stayed over at the mansion for a few nights. My nights started off peaceful until something happened. I had an awful dream. The dream started with me in Pawnee and for some reason I was standing on the side of the road. I see a car drive by and who did I see in it? Aiden, Jacks, and Lena. However, I see someone else on a motorcycle move right beside them. I didn't know who it was, but suddenly he pulls out a gun and starts shooting at the tires. The car starts to lose control. Aiden tries to control it, but it was no use. The car flips over and the man on the motorcycle escapes.

The car lands on its side. Aiden crawls out of the car and manages to get Jacks out, but he couldn't find Lena. He looks for her and I was horrified when I saw Lena lying across the road. Aiden ran up to her and she was in a bloody mess. Aiden shook her to see if she was awake. She wasn't. He shook her again while screaming her name, but she still didn't wake up. Jacks was in tears as his sister was dying. I just stood there, not knowing what to do. Aiden held her in his arms as tears began to form in his eyes. I felt regret. I couldn't believe that he had to put up with all of this. I feel tears start to fall down my cheeks. Suddenly, Aiden turns to me. Bloodshot eyes staring at me.

"You did this!"

He slowly pulls out a gun and aims it at me. Before he shoots, I whisper my final words. "I'm sorry." He pulls the trigger and the shot was loud. It was so loud that it woke me up. I quickly sit up and realize I actually was crying. I wipe the tears away. Suddenly, I hear the same noise that woke me up in my dream, but only this time, it was real. The door bursts open and a man wearing a mask with a rifle breaks in. He points it at me, but before he could shoot, the butler comes bursting in out of no where and electrocuted the man with something. I couldn't really see because it was so dark. Another man comes running towards him but he jumps up and kicks him across his face. He dashes out of the room. I didn't know what was going on, but I wanted to. I carefully get out of bed, trying not to hurt my wounds and take cover behind a wall. I look out and see Darius shooting at the men. Two of them go down and he runs elsewhere. All of this reminds me of when I was at Aiden's apartment and those fixers ambushed it. I remember there were a lot of explosions and I tried to get to my car as fast as possible.

The noise stopped. I slowly walk out of my room to see dead people everywhere. I also turn to see the butler pointing his gun at me.

"Hey man, don't shoot her!"

Darius said as he walks over to him and lowers his gun.

"You swear you want say a word to anyone about this?"

I anxious if he was going to shoot me or not. I've already taken enough gunshots.

"Even if I would tell someone, who would I tell?," I said, "People think I'm dead."

He looks at me for a moment.

"I just want to know what is going on"

He drops the weapon. Darius sighs and walks over to me.

"It's a lot to explain," he says, "Victor, can you clean this up?"

I guess that's the butler's name.

"Yes, I can"

He starts dragging one of the dead bodies as if this were an everyday thing. Darius sits on one of the couches.

"Take a seat"

I walk over and sit on one of the couches as well.

"Just to let you know, those weren't fixers. Those men were part of a corporation called Virus"

He leans in and starts talking more quietly.

"We are part of a secret service called Shield and we are well known enemies to Virus. I thought we took them down years ago, but it looks like they have come back. They aren't just going after us though, they are targeting the whole city. They've hurt a lot of people by taking them hostage and torturing them before killing them"

Darius took a deep breath before continuing.

"They are also going after the city's protector, Aiden Pearce. You said you knew him right?"

My eyes widen in surprise. The thought of Aiden being taken by these people was sick. Well I'm not going to let that happen.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure, go ahead"

"Is there a way that I could join this secret service?"

Darius cocked an eyebrow.

"Are you planning on joining just to get your friend out of this?"

"Well that's part of it and you need all of the help you can get."

"Alright, but you can't be part of any other organization like Blume, Ctos, etc and the shirt you were wearing was Dedsec so you can not be part of that either or you won't be trusted."

"Well since I'm faking my death, there really is no need to be part of Dedsec anymore."

I'm going to leave Dedsec for Shield and I'm probably not going to be hacking either.

"Okay so you will receive training in a few weeks but right now your wounds need to heal."

"Wait, she's in?"

I turn to see Victor who was done getting rid of the dead bodies. That was fast.

"Yeah and don't freak out because she's new. You usually do that."

"Well you never know where a "new person" comes from."

"Yeah I know but she has known me since high school and she is faking her death so chill out okay?"

"Alright fine."

After that, I waited until I was strong enough to actually move again and when I was, that was when my training began.


	4. The mission

**Alright guys so I need reviews to see how I am doing. I know people don't really write Claiden fanfics anymore but I'm writing one now. There is some fighting in this chapter so I figured I would throw that out there for the people who like the fight scenes. Anyways, Enjoy!**

* * *

(One year later)

I received training for over ten months. Victor taught me different ways to fight. At first, it was difficult because my wounds were hurting the whole time but I got used to it and I managed to gain a lot of flexibility. I learned to fight with different kinds of weapons such as a katana, poison darts, hidden blades, and a crossbow. I know they aren't your typical weapons you would use against a high powered gang like Virus, but don't be fooled.

I learned how to freerun and I also came up with my own wardrobe. I decided to wear a dark hoodie to stay well hidden.I mostly wear dark clothing such as dark jeans, boots, and black gloves. I got some of my tattoos removed and I had them redesigned into dragons.

I was assigned missions during training. I had to be a bodyguard for some crazy guy who was being targeted by Virus. I had to watch over him for a week until he was finally safe and it was the worst seven days of my life. I also had another mission to kill a spy that was tailing us.

Now those were just some of the side missions, but the real mission was tonight. We've recently discovered Virus' hideout and the whole thing was being held by their leader, Kent Simmons. Darius will be helping me with this mission while Victor is behind the computer watching the whole time. There will be hidden cameras attached to us so he will see everything we see. We will also have earpieces so we can communicate with each other throughout the mission.

The hideout is a high tech facility with guards everywhere. The plan was to have me distract the guards while Darius finishes Kent once and for all, but what happened was the exact opposite.

We were about to leave the mansion until Victor stopped us. He turns to me and hands me a ring and a parachute.

"The ring holds several bolts of electricity. You will need it."

I put the ring and parachute on and thank him.

Me and Darius leave the mansion and head towards the hideout. We spread out and climb on seperate buildings. I managed to climb pretty high and I got a good view of the roof of the the hideout. I could see three guards with rifles. I also saw one enforcer. He is going to be a problem.

The hideout was lower than the building I was on so I had to use my parachute. I step back and jump off the building. I fall as the wind whistles through my ears.

I get closer to the roof until I pull the string and up the parachute went. I remove the parachute when I got close to some nearby cover and landed behind it.

One of the guards was standing with his back facing me right in front of my cover. I sneak behind him and stab him with my hidden blade and pull him behind my cover. I move quickly behind more cover and see another guard from a distance. I aim my crossbow at him and shoot a bolt behind his neck. He falls to the floor, catching the enforcer's attention. Another guard was also startled by this and they both start searching for me.

The guard gets close to where I was at and I quickly take out my sword and stab him. The enforcer sees me and shoots his assault rifle at me without hesitation. I started running while dodging his bullets and I attempt to jump over him.

I land behind him and electricute him with the ring Victor gave me. I could hear his screaming through his suit.

He falls to the floor and I watch him for a moment to make sure he wasn't moving before putting away my katana. I contact Darius through the earpiece to see where he was at.

"Darius, where are you?"

"I'm inside the hideout, I'll need some assistance. There is a lot of guards here."

I hear another call come in.

"Clara, there is a door on that roof to your right. That's where Darius is at. Go inside, but be careful, there could be enemies waiting for you."

"Understood," I reply.

I go over to the enforcer who was still lying on the ground and I take his rifle just in case. I open the door carefully and I see a flight of stairs. I walk down each step cautiously. I stop when I hear chatter. It must have been the guards because they were talking about Shield.

I reach the end of the stairs and I hide behind the wall. I think about using the assault rifle, but I knew it would make a lot of noise and I wanted to stay undetected for now. I aim my crossbow at one of the men and shoot a bolt at his back. The other guy spots me and takes out his gun to shoot me. Before I had time to react, Darius knocks him out with a single kick.

We see more guards coming our way. I take out the assault rifle and start shooting at them. Two of them go down and the rest of them start shooting at Darius who was trying to avoid the bullets by taking as much cover as possible.

I manage to shoot at most of them, but one of the bullets strike Darius in the front of his shoulder. I quickly rush over to aid him. In the middle of all of this, I see the man we were after. Kent Simmons. He was running off somewhere.

"There's Kent, go get him before he escapes," Victor says.

Suddenly, one of the guards shoot at a gas tank near us and it explodes. The explosion blinded me and I couldn't see Kent anywhere. We needed to get out of here because more explosions surrounded us. I see the guards evacuating and I saw this as an opportunity to escape.

I take Darius' arm and wrap it around my neck. I lift him up and I was ready to get out of there.

"What are you doing?! Kent is escaping!" Victor yelled at the other end of the line.

I ignore him while turning off my earpiece and I carry Darius to the exit. We manage to get out and I see a car nearby. I move Darius towards it as fast as possible while trying to avoid the guards.

I open the car door and I put Darius in the backseat. I look for the keys until I spotted them in the glove compartment. I start the car and I started driving. I drive away from the hideout as far as possible. I look in the rear view mirror and I see Darius holding on to his injured shoulder. He looked like he could pass out any second.

"Hang in there Darius, we're almost home."

I check the other mirror to see if there were people coming after us. I sighed in relief when there wasn't. I get to the mansion and I get out of the car taking Darius with me. I go inside and I see Victor somewhat angry and confused.

"How did this happen?" He says placing Darius on the couch.

"One of the guards shot him and I had to get him out of there."

"Alright, his wound isn't too major so Darius should be fine. I'll tend to his injury. Did you get Kent?"

I lowered my head.

"No, he got away."

"What?!" He yelled, "How could you let him escape?!"

"I needed to help Darius and the place was falling apart. I couldn't just leave him there."

Victor glares at me.

"Clara, this man is far more dangerous than you can imagine and you just let him go because Darius only had a few minor injuries?!"

I couldn't believe what he was saying. Has he forgotten that Darius is part of the team too?

"Darius could have died in there and if you're just going to argue with me about helping out then I must have wasted my time!"

"What I'm saying is that Darius could have helped himself and now since Kent is free, he could be going after anyone now!"

I shake my head in disbelief.

"I don't want to hear it."

I storm out of the mansion, still in disbelief about what just happened. I get my mind off of it as I head towards the flower store.


	5. Approaching Aiden

(Fast foward)

I exit the bar in a bloody mess. People will notice the blood on my gloves and my hoodie if I don't remove them. I walk down a set of stairs and I take off my hoodie along with my gloves. The only thing I had on now was a white shirt with one of the sleeves drooping down, partially showing my shoulder.

I take one last look at them before tossing them in a nearby trashcan. I start to leave until I hear screaming. Curious to know what it was, I walk towards the sound. The closer I was to the noise, the louder it got. I take out my switch blade when I saw a man forcing a woman onto the ground. He was ripping off her clothes, telling her to stay quiet.

I was about to stop him until out of nowhere, someone swings something at him that looked like a baton and he was down in a second. It was Aiden. He backs away as he puts his baton back in his pocket. The woman looked up at him as she got up and ran, leaving Aiden by himself. I put my switch blade away. Should I approach him? He was probably going to be mad knowing that I faked my death, but I'm going to approach him anyway.

"Aiden."

I said it loud enough for him to hear me. He turns around and that's when I came out of the shadows. Coincidently, this was the same place as where we first met face to face. He looked at me for a moment before responding.

"Clara?"

I came closer to give him a better look at me.

"Yes Aiden, it's me."

He starts to come closer to me.

"But I thought you were-"

"Dead," I interrupted. "I thought I was too, but I'm alive."

He got close enough to the point where he could fully see me. I didn't know what he was thinking or feeling right now, but I was anxious to know. Aiden stared at me for a few more seconds before wrapping his arms around me, hugging me. I was surprised by this, but I hugged him back. I was glad he was happy to see me.

I rest my head on his shoulder as I took in his scent. As we held each other, I felt something awaken in me. All this time I have been hiding and I really felt like I was dead, but now I feel like I can breathe again.

He pulls away and he smiles at me. I couldn't help but smile back. We stared at each other which seemed like forever until he starts to lean in close. I place my hands on his cheeks as we got closer. Suddenly, we hear sirens. It sounded like police cars. Before I could react, he takes my hand and starts running the other direction. He leads me to a parked car.

Aiden hacks into the locks and we get inside. I was shocked.

"Is this yours?"

He turns to me with a smirk.

"Nope."

He starts the car and he starts driving way over the speed limit. The police were right behind us. Aiden starts taking several turns, almost crashing the car until finally we lost them. He starts driving a bit slower as he speaks.

"So what have you been doing while you were gone?"

What should I tell him? I didn't want to say that I have been killing people. I also didn't want to tell him that I was part of Shield because I was told to keep that a secret and I don't want to drag him into this.

"Clara?"

His voice broke through my thoughts, startling me.

"I've been trying to start over and I did manage to, but when I saw you, I just had to say something."

"Why didn't you come to me sooner?"

I take a deep breath before responding.

"Because I thought you would be mad at me."

He looked at me curiously.

"Why would I be mad at you?"

I was surprised.

"Because I was the cause of your niece's death and now I faked my death, making you believe that I was dead."

My voice was a bit shaky as tears began to form in my eyes. I tried to stop them, but I eventually break down and start to cry. I felt like I couldn't stop.

Just then, the car stops and he places his hand on my shoulder. I look up at Aiden.

"Listen, it's not your fault."

"But-"

"You didn't order the hit and you weren't the one that shot the car."

I couldn't believe it.

"But I was the one who gave them the information."

Aiden looks away for a moment until he looks back at me.

"Clara, that's all in the past. I blamed myself everyday for dragging you into that mess, but now since you're alive, I'm not so angry anymore."

He moves his hand towards my cheek and wipes my tears with his thumb.

"Don't blame yourself anymore, okay?" He says with a comforting smile.

"Okay."

I smile back at him. We stare at each other for a moment before he removes his hand and places it back on the steering wheel.

"Recently, T-bone called me and told me to stay away from the bunker because dedsec discovered it, so we're not going to be there anytime soon, but I am staying at an apartment right now. You could stay there if you want."

I thought about what happened at the mansion earlier and right now, I didn't want to go back.

"I'd love too."

He starts driving again until we reach his apartment. We got out of the car and Aiden leads me to his apartment room. We go inside and I immediately collapse on his couch. I was wore out.

"You tired?"

I almost didn't hear what he said because of how tired I was.

"Yeah," I said as my eyes grew heavy.

"Alright, I'll let you rest."

Before I could think of anything else, I drifted off to sleep.


	6. Tragedy

**Alright, so this chapter is rated M for some sexual themes. Viewer discretion is advised. Enjoy!**

* * *

(The next morning)

I wake up with the sun in my face. As I rub my eyes, I take in my surroundings. It took me a few seconds to realize that I was in Aiden's apartment. I also realized that there was a blanket over me. I don't remember getting a blanket. I guess Aiden must have put it there. I sit up and I don't see Aiden anywhere in sight. I'm sure he's still sleeping.

I turn on his TV to see if anything was on and I saw WKZ news. I also see a picture of Aiden's sister, Nicky. I was quickly intrigued to find out what was going on.

"Nicky Pearce, who is claimed to be a relative of the vigilante, Aiden Pearce, was found dead yesterday. Along with her 11 year old son, Jackson Pearce. Witnesses say that they saw men with guns entering their home. One witness tells us that he saw a symbol on one of the men's jackets that looked like a virus symbol. Police are still investigating who these men are and a motive."

I felt like my heart stopped. I sat there staring at the screen, not knowing what to think. I tried to stop Virus from hurting Aiden and now they've killed his family. Kent killed his family, and I know how Kent kills people he goes after. What I've heard from Darius about the...torture. The thought of Aiden's family being killed like that terrifies me.

"It's all my fault," I said to myself.

"What?"

I was startled by his voice. I turn to see Aiden looking at me with confusion and anger.

"You have something to do with this?"

I turn off the TV and I get up. He walks towards me.

"Clara, tell me."

"I-I can explain-"

"You better give me a fucking explaination for this."

"Listen, the men who attacked your family were part of an organization called Virus. I've been trying to take them down for months and-"

"Wait, I thought you said you were trying to start over."

He was starting to sound angry.

"I was, but when I heard about these guys going after you, I just had to do something, but I screwed up and I let them come after your family," I explained. "I'm sorry Aiden."

He runs his hand through his head in frustration. His eyes shut as he tries to hold in his anger. I hear him take deep breaths as he tries to calm himself down.

"Clara," He says looking at me, "I don't know if I can trust you. You're not telling me about these things when you should."

"But I didn't want to get you involved-"

"It doesn't matter, you should tell me right away."

"Aiden I-"

"Just get out of my apartment."

The words struck me like a bullet.

"What?"

"I don't know what to believe anymore, get out."

He said it louder this time. I didn't even flinch

"Fine."

I look at Aiden one last time before walking out the door. I leave his apartment, not once looking back. I know Aiden has been through a lot, but he didn't need to be rude. He didn't even give me the chance to explain. I worked my ass off trying to keep him out of harm's way, and now he kicks me out of his apartment.

My phone starts to ring. I wanted to ignore it, but when I look to see who was calling, it was Darius. I wanted to know how he was doing, so I answer.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Victor told me that you left. Why did you do that?"

He sounded calm about it so I responded.

"It was because he told me that I should have left you at that hideout to die and run after Kent. I found that ridiculous, why would he say something like that?"

"The history between Victor and Kent isn't so great. Kent killed Victor's brother, who was also part of Shield, years ago. Victor really hates him and he doesn't like the fact that Kent is alive. That's why he was so angry."

How many more people is Kent going to kill?

"Oh by the way, the bar fight that you started yesterday has sparked a lot of attention. You were caught on camera and the police are looking for you."

Shit.

"You still there?"

"Yes, I am."

"Where are you anyways?"

"I...I was just with Aiden."

"What do you mean you were just with Aiden?"

"I finally approached him after the bar fight and he kicked me out of his apartment because Virus killed his sister and his nephew."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that."

I stop at an alley. I suddenly hear noises around me. I look around and I see figures hiding behind certain objects. I knew exactly who they were.

"Darius, I have to go. I'll talk to you later."

As soon as I hang up, the guards come out and start shooting at me. With quick instinct, I dodge the bullets just in time and I see a car at a red light. I didn't have my weapons at this point because they were in my hoodie. The only thing I had was my ring, but that wouldn't be enough. Feeling like I had no choice, I open the civilian's door from the driver's side and I pull him out of his car.

"Sorry, but I need this," I said as I jumped in with sudden energy.

I drive away in panic. I felt so bad for what I did just now, but later on I didn't. I see dark vehicles behind me. I figured it was them, so I started driving as fast as the car could go. I bumped into some other cars along the way and one of those cars were the police. I was too busy trying to get away from the Virus guards to even notice.

Suddenly, the dark vehicles start to dissapear and they were replaced with cop cars. Câlisse! How much more do I have to put up with today?

"Pull over!"

I refused as I tried to go through shortcuts to get away from them. It took hours to escape, but I managed to get away. Looks like I need to lay low for a while. That police chase made me wish I would have never threw away my hoodie. I was afraid now. Afraid of getting arrested and ending up on the news. The fear of Aiden finding out what I've been doing. No, I need to get my mind off of those things. I decide to give Aiden a call. I want to know how he was doing.

I dial his number and the phone rings, but there was no answer. I tried calling again. Still no answer. I was going to go over to his apartment. I needed to check on him. I know how he feels about his family and what he would do for them. So many things ran through my mind while I was on my way over there. Was he still mad at me? How was he going to react when I got there?

I park the car and I walk up to his apartment. I call out to him.

"Aiden?"

No response.

"Aiden, why aren't you answering?"

I hear a loud noise come from his apartment. I go to open the door and surprisingly it was unlocked. I go inside and an awful smell hit me. I look around and I see glass all over the floor along with beer bottles sitting on the table. My God what has he done? Suddenly, I hear a loud noise coming from the bedroom. I sounded like a gunshot. I started to panic.

"Aiden?!"

I rushed into his room and I see him bolt up while pointing a gun at me with bloodshot eyes. It was just like in my dream. I freeze.

"Put the gun down," I said cautiously.

Aiden looks at me for a few seconds before lowering his gun. I start walking up to him slowly. Once I got close enough to him, he wraps his arms around me tightly. I hug him back. I felt his body shaking against mine and he starts weeping against my shoulder. I couldn't believe it. Aiden was actually crying. I knew I shouldn't have left him. Dammit.

I start running my hand through his hair while I rubbed his back. I tried my best to calm him down. He stops and he looks at me with tear stained eyes. I wipe them away from his face and I place my hands on his shoulders. I could tell he was still shaking a little bit.

"It's okay," I whispered.

I lean in close and I lightly press my lips against his. He tilts his head, deepening the kiss as he pulls me closer. I press my forehead onto his and I stare deeply into his blue-ish green eyes. He leans foward and he kisses me passionately. Before I knew it, he takes my shoulders and pins me against the wall. He starts kissing me ferociously as he shuts the door and locks it.

I slide my tongue into his mouth and he lets out a soft grunt. A moan escapes my lips as our tongues danced. Aiden tugs at my shirt and starts pulling it up. I lift my shirt up and I take it off. He starts kissing me aggressively as he pulls me away from the wall and pushes me onto the bed. He gets on top of me and starts kissing my neck. I let out soft moans as I unbutton his shirt. He takes it off and throws it on the floor, revealing his upper body.

Aiden's lips travel back up to mine and starts to kiss me again. His hands slide behind my back and he reaches for my bra. I help him by lifting my back up a little bit. He unsnaps my bra and takes it off of me. He presses his body hard against mine. We finish undressing each other and we took each other in the most intimate way two people could show love.

When we were done, he pulls me close and wraps his arms around me. He kisses me one last time before falling asleep.


	7. Together

**Okay guys, so I want to say thanks for all of the support on this story. I got the next chapter done and I hope you enjoy. Rated M for some sexual themes ;)**

* * *

I wake up in Aiden's arms with my head pressed against his chest. I tried to process everything that happened last night. I just slept with the vigilante. The thought of that was crazy, but somehow it felt good in a way. That's when something else hit me. What if Aiden was drunk. What if he wakes up and was unaware of what happened. Would this ruin our friendship? So many things ran through my mind as he wakes up. He blinks a few times before fully waking up.

He looks down at me with a blank expression. I just stared at him with anxiety. He looks at me with the same expression for a few seconds before smiling. I sigh in relief as he kisses my forehead.

"Good morning," he says still smiling.

"Morning," I said smiling back.

I felt his arms move around my bare back as he pulls me closer to him.

"That was...quite a night we had."

"Yeah," he says chuckling a little bit at my comment.

We stare at eachother for a moment before I start to ask him about what he did last night.

"Aiden, I want you to be honest with me. Answer me truthfully, why did you have a gun?"

He immediately frowns. I didn't want to bring back any kind of fear in him, but I wanted to know. He sighs before answering.

"It's complicated."

"You can explain to me. I'll listen."

I place a hand on his cheek, trying to comfort him. He takes a deep breath before explaining.

"I don't know why I had a gun. I just felt drained after all of the drinks I had. Clara, I wasn't trying to kill myself. I was just...I..I don't know."

His breath became a bit shaky. I saw the fear in his eyes.

"It's okay Aiden."

"Can we not talk about it anymore?"

"Ok, we don't have to."

I lean foward and I kiss him passionately. Our lips separate and he moves his head to my shoulder. He holds me tighter this time.

"I love you," he says against my ear.

"I love you too," I said back. "And I'll do whatever it takes to help you get through this."

He pulls away from me and stares into my eyes.

"Clara."

"Aiden."

He kisses me hard on the lips. I widen my mouth welcoming his intrusion. His hands start exploring my body as his lips travel towards my neck.

He places his hands on my breasts and starts to massage them while kissing my neck.

"Oh Aiden," I moaned.

He gets on top of me and that's when we got lost in eachother.

When we were finished, we got dressed and started cleaning up the apartment.

"Alright Clara. Since I was honest with you, then you should be honest with me. I want to know who went after my family and you mentioned something about an organization called Virus. You mind telling me about that?"

"I'll tell you everything."

"You promise you will tell me absolutely everything? No details left out?"

I could tell that was the vigilante side of him. No fooling around.

"I promise."

I start telling him about Virus, Shield, and the cops coming after me. By the time I was done explaining, we were done cleaning.

"So you got involved in all of this just so I wouldn't get hurt?"

"Yes, I did."

He was silent for a moment before he spoke again.

"You didn't have to do all of that, but thank you."

I smile a little bit

"You've done a lot for me Clara and I want to make it up to you by helping you take down Virus."

My smile grew wider. Remembering how Aiden needed my help. It made me happier knowing that he was going to help me.

"Ok then," I said while stepping close to him. "We'll take down Virus."

I places my hands on his shoulders.

"Together."

I press my lips against his. I felt his hands reach my upper back as he pulls me closer. Suddenly, the door to the apartment bursts open. Men with guns surround us. I attempt to attack one of them, but I was unsuccessful as I was knocked to the ground. Nearly being knocked out.

Aiden runs over to help, but he was punched in the head. Instantly knocking him out.

"Aiden!"

I try to reach him, but I was hit hard across the head. Everything went black at that moment.


	8. Fear

**I'm sorry I haven't been updating recently. Back in July whenever I posted chapter 7, I had the summer flu and it lasted for almost 2 weeks. I'm better now so here is the next chapter. Enjoy!**

* * *

I wake up not knowing where I was, but seconds later I realize I was strapped in a chair.

"We meet again, Clara Lille."

That's when I noticed a man in a suit walking into the room.

"Kent," I muttered.

He smirks.

"Where is Aiden?"

My question was quickly answered when I saw Aiden being thrown to the ground. He looked unconscious. Two men picked him up by his arms and placed him on his knees. I gasped at his condition. I glare at Kent with anger.

"Enfant de Chienne!"

He turns to me and punches me, hard across the face.

"I prefer that you don't swear at me in french. Otherwise, you'll get what's coming to you."

I felt some blood trickle down my nose as I looked over at Aiden, who was starting to wake up.

"Now we won't do any harm to your lover if you cooperate with me. Am I understood?"

I look up at him not answering. He lowers himself to my eye level.

"Am I understood, Ms. Lille?" He repeated. I lightly nod. They better not hurt him.

"Very good. Now I want you to tell where your others friends are. We searched their mansion and it seems they have relocated. Mind telling me about that?"

"I don't know where they are."

"Don't lie to me."

I really didn't know. I knew they were still at the mansion when I left, but they never told me they left too.

"I really don't know."

"Wrong answer."

One of the men taze Aiden, causing him to scream in pain.

"Stop!" I pleaded.

Kent pulls out a gun and points it at Aiden.

"Tell me where they are or he dies."

I started to panic.

"I-I swear I don't know! They never told me they left! Please don't kill him!"

He looks at me for a few seconds before putting his gun away.

"Very well, release her from the chair, but shoot her if she tries to escape."

The men followed his orders and unstrapped me from the chair.

"Get her on her feet."

They pick me up and leave me standing. He gets closer to me.

"Let go of her arms."

They do as he says and releases me.

"Now if you're not willing to cooperate with me," he says looking me up and down, "Then I might as well break you."

I knew exactly what he was going to do. He was inches away from me now. I start backing away. That's when I realized Aiden was awake.

"If you lay a hand on her, I'll-"

"You'll do what, curse me? Don't make me laugh, Pearce."

Kent turned to Aiden while he was talking, giving me the opportunity to swing at him. He takes my arm and twists tackles me to the ground and starts kissing me forcefully while keeping my arms twisted behind my back. I turn my head in defiance. I tried everything I could to fight him off by kicking and trying to free my arms, but he held me down. He kisses my neck while twisting my arms even further. I gasped in pain as continued struggling. No, this can't happen to me. I felt rage, hatred, and revenge. I wanted to kill him for everything he has done.

I hear gunshots and I feared the worst, but it was Aiden fighting off the guards. Kent stops and sees what's going on, making him release my arms and reach for a gun. He points it at me and tries to shoot, but I continued to fight by pushing the gun towards him.

Suddenly, a swing of a baton knocks him right off of me along with "You son of a bitch!" Of course, it was Aiden. He picks up Kent and throws him against the wall. He swings his baton at him a few more times, leaving him paralyzed.

Aiden picks up Kent's gun and points it at him.

"No, please don't kill me!"

"And why the fuck would I do that?" He says as he picks him up and starts strangling him. "You kill my sister, my nephew, and then you tried to kill Clara! And you expect me to let you live?!"

I get up and I could only watch as Kent struggles to breathe.

"Your family...isn't..really dead. T-That was...a setup."

"Don't give me your bullshit!" He says while pressing the gun, hard against his head. "You're just saying that so I won't kill you!"

"I swear... I'm telling the truth."

"Shut up!"

Aiden punches him hard in his ribcage, making him scream in pain.

"You're going to pay for everything you've done you piece of shit."

His voice was deep and threatening. I could tell he was really angry and broken. He stops strangling him and just when he was about to shoot, there were gunshots coming from behind us. There were more guards. I pick up one of the weapons from one of the dead guards and I start shooting at them. I manage to shoot two of them, but one of them shoot at a nearby gas tank causing an explosion. The flames blinded me and I couldn't tell what was going on.

When I finally got the chance to see, I could see Kent standing up and pointing a gun at me. Before I could react, I felt someone push me to the ground. I look up and I see Aiden on top of me. I could also see smoke coming out of the gun in his hand. Looks like he shot him.

Aiden was still looking at Kent's lifeless body with his gun still pointed at him. It was quiet at that moment, no guards were in sight, and all I could hear was the flames. After a few seconds, he turns to me and lowers his gun. He had a worried look on his face.

"Are you okay?"

I see him wince while holding on to his side. I look down and I see blood beneath his hand. My eyes widen in horror.

"Oh my God Aiden, are you okay?!"

"I'm fine," he says while getting up. He looked like he was about ready to collapse while I got up also, but I caught him before he could fall. I wrap his arm around the back of my neck, the same way I carried Darius, and we made our way out of the room we were in.

Just as we left, we run into Darius. There he was.

"Clara?" He said, "Damn, what did they do to you? Your nose looks messed up."

"I'm okay, but we need to get out of here."

He nods and looks at Aiden's wound. His eyes widen.

"Alright, follow me."

He leads us to a set of stairs while I carried Aiden.

"Who is he, Clara?"

"That's Darius, remember I told you about him?"

Aiden nods as if he remembered. While going down the stairs, I started to worry when Aiden slowed down his walking every few seconds. I could see his eyes slowly closing.

"Aiden, stay with me, okay?"

He lightly bolted up as if he was brought back to reality.

"Victor is outside with a ride waiting for us," Darius shouted up ahead.

That was good news. Aiden starts to pick up the pace again, but I knew wouldn't last long if we didn't get out of here in time. We get to the bottom of the staircase and there was a door ahead of us that led outside. When we got outside, U see Darius run towards the ride he was talking about. He gets in the passenger seat and I rush towards the backseat.

"Hurry up, we need to go!" Victor shouted.

I open the back door and I place Aiden on the far left side before getting in. As soon as I shut the door, Victor starts driving full speed. I look behind us and I see that there were Virus reinforcements already after us.

"Goddammit, Darius fight them off. Clara will help you."

Before I could say anything, he tosses a black piece of clothing in the backseat. I study it and I realize that it was my hoodie that I had thrown in the trash.

"How did you-"

"Your weapons are inside, use them to get rid of these bloody reinforcements."

I search through the hoodie and I see my crossbow. I took out some bolts and I aim through the window. I could see that Darius was using a pistol to shoot at the guards in the vehicles. I aim towards one car and I saw that the driver was peeking his head out the window. I shoot at one of his tires and the car comes to a halt. Darius shoots him in the head. I continued to do the same to the other two cars while Darius shot the guards in them. That did it and we lost them.

"That has to be the end of Virus. Hopefully, Kent is gone for good," Darius says while putting his gun away.

"I made sure he was dead," Aiden starts, still clutching his wound, "After what he did to my family, there was no way I could forgive him."

I frown a little, knowing what I did to him in the past.

"Actually your family isn't really dead," Darius told him.

"What do you mean?" Aiden asked curiously. I was curious too.

"Kent set that whole thing up to lure you into their hideout, but after we nearly destroyed it, they went full throttle and chased after us. They tried to use the news as bait. You can't believe everything you see on the news, you know?"

"How would you know?"

I could tell Aiden was getting defensive about it.

"Don't get upset Pearce. Darius knows Virus better than anyone, and if they were to murder your family, they would be more discreet about it, not spreading it on the news."

"Kent did say something about a setup before you killed him so perhaps they're right, Aiden."

He turns to me and nods.

"We're heading back to the mansion and let's just say we're going to have to do some cleaning," Darius explains.

I turn to Aiden.

"When we get there, I'm going to take care of that wound for you, okay?"

"Okay."

After that, we were on our way to the mansion.


	9. At peace

**Here's the next chapter and this one is pretty short. There's this one and there will also be a final chapter to this story. So enjoy this one :)**

* * *

We get to the mansion and I help Aiden out of the car. I carry him inside and I take him to my room while Darius and Victor started cleaning.

I lay Aiden on my bed and I ran to get the first aid kit. When I got back, I could already see blood forming on the bed. I cursed as I rushed over to him with first aid. I sat him up while trying not to hurt him. I remove jacket and I lift up part of his sweater. I winced as I saw his gunshot wound all covered in blood.

I search through the first aid kit and I take out a thread and needle. I stick the needle into the thread and I started stitching his wound.

"Since when did you learn how to stitch?" He asked with a small smile.

"Darius taught me," I replied. "Does that surprise you?"

"Kind of, so are we staying here at the mansion?"

I thought about it for a moment. The bunker was discovered and Aiden's apartment was trashed by Virus. No doubt the police are searching through it.

"I'm sure Darius and Victor will let us stay here."

"It's a nice place. How did he afford all of this?"

"Probably because he is a genius with technology."

"Like you are."

I lightly laugh at his compliment. After a few minutes, I was done with his wound. I lay him back down on the bed to let him rest. As I was about to leave, I felt a hand lightly grasp my arm. I turn to look at him.

"Stay."

As I looked into his eyes, I knew I couldn't say no. I get back on the bed and I lay next to him. I press my head onto his chest and I listened to his heartbeat. He wraps his arms around me although I heard him grunt as he moved. I look up to make sure he was okay. He smiles at my concern and pulls me close. Everything was at peace as we fell asleep.

We stayed at the mansion for almost nine months. We would hunt after criminals such as serial killers, rapists, terrorists, and high powered corporations such as Virus. Aiden and I stayed together and having Darius and Victor helping us, we were unstoppable.


	10. Epilogue: Another nightmare

**This is the last chapter to this story. There will be an update after this chapter about another upcoming story. Enjoy this final chapter. This is an epilogue.**

* * *

**"**It wasn't difficult to find them. Two men, one a hacker, the other a fixer. As far as I can tell. Never heard of them before."

I watched Aiden stare at me with disbelief.

"I can explain," I tried, "I-I wanted to tell you."

"Nice work. Names, please."

"Are you planning to hurt them?"

"When has that ever bothered you? I trust the amount is satisfactory."

I felt heavy guilt when I heard what was next.

"Damien Brenks and Aiden Pearce."

"Clara?"

Seconds later, T-bone killed the power. It was dark now. We were being invaded by Default, but too much guilt surrounded me to even care.

"Aiden.."

He grabs my arm tightly almost twisting it.

"You did this?"

"Aiden I-"

But before I could finish, he pushes me away. He pushed me so hard that I fell to the floor. He strides towards me as I try to get up. He reaches for something in his hacket and pulls out a gun. I shook as I curled myself into a ball. I closed my eyes hoping that it would end.

"You did this!"

Next thing I knew, I quickly sat up in bed while breathing heavily. It's just a dream, I thought. It was only a dream. I cover my face with my hands and I couldn't help but feel guilt. Through the past couple of months, I've been having these nightmares. I never told Aiden about them because they involved him either shooting me or leaving me for dead. I know he would never do that, but I still continue to have these nightmares.

I struggle to relax as I shivered a little.

"Clara?"

I jumped as I heard Aiden say my name.

"What's wrong?" He asked as he sat up next to me.

"It's nothing Aiden, just go back to sleep."

"Doesn't seem like nothing to me."

I try to hold my tears in.

"Just leave it Aiden, it's fine," I said more firmly this time.

"Clara, it isn't. Tell me what's wrong."

I couldn't talk about it without crying my eyes out. I just wanted him to forget about it and go to sleep.

"It was just a dream, that's all."

He looked at me for a moment before asking, "Are you having nightmare?"

"Y-Yes," I manage to say before sheading a tear, "But I deserve them."

"No, you don't."

"Yes, I do. It's my fault that your neice died," I said as I was beginning to raise my voice.

"No, it isn't."

"Yes, it is Aiden! Why can't you see that?!"

It hurt so bad inside that I started crying. I hated it and I wanted to stop.

"Clara," he says while placing his hand on my back.

"She would still be alive today if I hadn't gave them information," I said, "If only I wasn't so stupid."

I cryed even harder as he pulls me towards his chest.

"It's okay."

How is it okay? I am responsible for her death.

"How?" I said in between sobs as I looked up at him, "How do you forgive me?"

Aiden was quiet for a moment before saying, "Because I love you Clara."

That just made me want to cry even more. I wrap my arms around his neck and I hug him as tightly as I could. He may have been a dangerous man, but he also had a good heart.

"I love you too."

We sat there embracing each other until I manage to stop crying. I grew a bit sleepy and I managed to fall asleep once more. Rest came easy this time.


	11. Update

Okay so the last chapter you just read is the end of my story. Now, I know what you're thinking. SEQUEL SEQUEL SEQUEL! Some of you may not think that, but for those of you who do, I'm sorry to say that there will not be a sequel. I'm just not that interested in this story anymore, but I will give an option. You can send me recommendations of what kind of little plots I can add called optional chapters. If you want Clara to be on some sort of mission, put up a review or pm me. Maybe mash ups, but don't request sequels. If you want lemon, that's fine. If you're too embarrassed to put up a review about it then pm me and I'll likely message you back. I'll be working on another Claiden fanfic and I believe it will be much longer than Bloody flowers and better. If you liked the action in this story then I'm sure you will like this next one. Anyway, you have until June 1st 2016 to send me a recommendation. After that, I will not accept any requests.

Bluerk9 out :)


End file.
